


Daddy's Little Girl

by Lady_Cray



Category: Switched at Birth (TV)
Genre: Father-Daughter Relationship, Gen, mentions of abandonment
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-11
Updated: 2019-01-11
Packaged: 2019-10-08 13:24:31
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,114
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17387189
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lady_Cray/pseuds/Lady_Cray
Summary: “But that’s the way fathers are, you know. Father's will go through anything to make sure their daughters are always that. Their daughters.” she said. “So it won’t matter now if you think it’s all going wrong. You will always be your daddy’s little girl. Because nothing is stronger than the love a father has for his daughter."Or the one where the Daphne learns what a father is.





	Daddy's Little Girl

**Author's Note:**

> The plot is loosely based on the song of the same title by Frankie J

Fight.

 

After the loss of her hearing, that was all Daphne Vazquez’ parents seemed to do.

 

They fought over things as mundane as the weather and what was for dinner, and they fought over the economy and lack of clean clothes in the house. Daphne did not need to hear her parents for her know when they were arguing. She could not hear what her parents were fighting about, but she was absolutely sure it was about her. Even before she went deaf they argued about her, what was so different now?

 

Regina Sorento-Vazquez was not a very expressive person, but while caught under the influence of her favorite drink, she was as expressive as a child. And Angelo Sorento could not be more expressive if he tried. Ever move the man made told a tale. If he would run his fingers through his hair with a smile, then he was very proud but shy about whatever subject. If he wasn’t smiling while he did so, he was nervous or didn’t want to talk about it. So whenever the two fought, it was like watching a storm making its way through the Sorento-Vazquez household. Sometimes the neighbors would come by and take her away for a bit, so she wouldn't have to see her parents fight around her, and later on, when the sun had gone down, her mother, Regina, would come to pick her up and put her to bed.

 

Today, Daphne took her usual hiding spot under the table while her parents argued. Her knees pressed painfully tight to her chest, her face between her knees while her hands covered her ears to muffle the vibrations. She tried hard to keep her tears at bay, but try as she might, the tears came and spilled down her cheeks. But this was not a time for crying. No. There would be time for her tears to spill, preferably when she was tucked safely under the covers of her bed. But the tears were not welcome right not.

 

Not when it was apparent that her father was leaving her.

 

So she breathed slow steady breaths until she could feel the pressure ease and the tears reside. Perhaps if she was a good girl and stopped crying, her father would stay with her.

 

Today had started off like any other day. Everyone woke, ate and while her mother sat in the living room couch, Daphne sat and played with her dolls. And just like any other day, her father leaned against the archway and looked at her, a broken look marring his face. Daphne hated seeing her father like that, so she stood from her spot and waddled over to him, wrapping her arms tightly around his legs and smiling up at him.

 

But he did not smile down at her as he usually did. Instead, he sighed and reached to peel her little arms from around him. She blinked and frowned as she watched him get down on his haunches to be on eye level with her and say something she could not understand. Her mother seemed to have understood because she was being tugged out of the way to avoid a hit from the pillow her mother had thrown at her father.

 

Sensing the shouting was to start up again, Daphne rushed to the kitchen and hit under the table to avoid being caught in the crossfire. And that had been when she noticed the suitcases by the door.

 

Her little heart began beating erratically inside her chest. Because she was making things worse again. She had seen pictures of her mother and father, pictures where they were happy. Pictures she was not a part of. And if this was all her fault, then she needed to make things right.

 

Taking a deep breath Daphne crawled out from her hiding spot and dashed to the retreating figure of the man who meant everything to her. In trying to be brave, she forgot she wasn’t supposed to cry, and suddenly tears streamed freely down her face as she slammed herself against his form and wrapped her small frail arms around him. When he tried to pull her off from him, she responded by burying her face in his chest soaking his shirt with tears as she sobbed and begged for him to say.

 

She could not see her mother's narrowed eyes before she retreated back to her bedroom. Her father sighed and with a gentleness that only he could muster, he unwrapped her arms from around his waist and held her at arm's length. From his back pocket, he took out a cloth and brought it to her face to wipe away the tears and the stray buggers that were running down her nose and dangling off her chin.

 

She continued to beg and plead for him to stay. She offered to take his bags back to his room - or a different one if he wanted and help him unpack. She promised to make him a good snack and that if he wanted she would share her favorite box of cereal with him, so long as he stayed.

 

She tried reasoning, telling him that if she left who would she have left to talk to in those days, when she came home from school and Mom and her grandmother were in the house, who would she run to when they wanted to dress her up, who would stand by her side and tell her she wasn't a freak when the kids at school thought she was? She tried everything she could think of, she truly did. But in the end, it didn't make a difference.

 

He had shaken his head and kissed her on her forehead and very carefully told her that she loved her and that she would always be in his heart. He then rose to his feet, grabbed his suitcase and walked to the door and out of her life.

 

Her legs quivered and she stood frozen on the spot. Could this really be happening, was he really leaving them, was he leaving her? No, this was not right, she shook her head and ran after him out the door, she couldn't lose him, and she just couldn't let that happen.

 

So as she watched him hail and proceed to load his belongings in the trunk of the vehicle, she launched herself at him. Arms wrapped tightly around his neck, causing him to stumble forward and to catch his breath. _"If you leave me, I'll hate you forever."_ She said hoarsely, her vocal cords straining from lack of use.

 

The words were a warning, a promise she intended to keep.

 

The words hung in the air between them, and Daphne waited, tears staining her bright blue eyes as her face turned red from choking on broken sobs as she waited for him to say that he would stay.

 

But he didn't. Instead, he managed to break her hold on him and set her down on the grass as he lied to her. “I'll be back before you have time to really know I was gone," Angelo had promised, speaking slowly to make sure she understood.

 

She understood. She understood that his words were nothing but an empty promise. But she hugged him one last time and pretended she believed him before she walked slowly back inside the house.

 

He had lied. He had broken his promise, but she kept hers.

 

Years later, she saw him again, something she blamed entirely on Bay Kennish. Because if the brunette had kept her nose out of this whole Angelo business he might have stayed away. But no, now she had to deal with the man who had left her behind. And she had to deal with  John and Katherine, and _Bay_ , and she just couldn't. So she shut him out, making sure to avoid being in the same room as him.

 

Because he had broken his promise, but she was still keeping hers.

 

* * *

 

 

Daphne could feel her heart stop beating as she hung up the call. A cold feeling settling over her.

 

Jace looked up from his laptop and frowned, a look of worry on his face. "What's wrong?"

 

"I'm sorry, I have to go." She said abruptly, not saying much else and making a rushed beeline to her car.

 

She drove as fast as she dared, arriving at the hospital in record time. As soon as she has parked, Daphne stubbled out of the car and rushed inside the building, slamming her hands - and herself - on the receptionist’ desk, causing the nurse sitting there to look at her in frustration.

 

"May I help you." She drawled.

 

"I need to know what room John Kennish is in," she said hastily, and the dark bulky nurse raised a brow at her.

 

"Are you family?" she asked, a brow raised in question and Daphne wanted to slap the woman. Couldn’t she see she needed to be by John’s side? What if something happened? But she should have known better. It wasn’t like the poor woman could just give away the room number to the new senator. Daphne knew she definitely wouldn’t, not if she wanted to keep her job in any case.

 

"He’s my..." She paused. Because what exactly was John Kennish to her. Was he her father? Or was he just the man she shared half her DNA with? Thankfully, she didn’t have to contemplate the thought much further.

 

"Daphne!" She heard Toby call and turned to see him jogging towards her, earning himself a pointed look from the desk nurse. "It’s alright, she’s family.” he watched him tell the nurse before turning back to her and gesturing for her to follow him, leading her away. As she turned to trail behind him, she saw Bay arrive. Her shirt askew, buttons only half done and hair sticking at odd angles around her pale face.

 

Daphne saw when she spotted them, a look of relief flashing in her eyes before she rushed towards them. "Is he alright? What happened? I just got the call from mom, but she didn’t tell me much else. If he okay? Is he dead? What happened?!" This had been the fastest Bay had ever signed anything, panic evident in her face. And Daphne knew that if she could hear, it would have been evident in her voice as well.

 

"He's okay now," Toby assured them, and both girls breathing a sigh of relief. "The doctors are asking him a couple of questions and he’ll be getting of exams done, but he’s in the clear." He assured them.

 

"But what happened?!" Bay demanded. "All mom said was that Regina had found him passed out on the kitchen floor and that I needed to get to the hospital right away."

 

"Bay, breath ok, you need to breathe," Toby said trying to calm his sister down. Bay looked like she was on the verge of tears or a panic attack. Maybe both. So Daphne decided it might be best if she helped Toby try and calm the girl down. Once that had been accomplished Toby lead them up to the patient floors, and when they were outside John’s door, Katherine stepped out and walked towards them.

 

"Oh, thank goodness you're all here." She breathed in relief, wrapping her arms around both girls.

 

"Is John alright?" Daphne asked, her fingers trembling as she signed.

 

Katherine nodded."Your father had a heart attack,” she said slowly, looking at both girls before continuing, “he's fine now, so don’t worry.” she assured. “His results just came back and he’s going to be discharged as soon as he’s done changing.”

 

“But Toby said they were going to do more test, shouldn’t we wait for those to come in?” Daphne asked.

 

“The doctors already cleared him,” she assured her, “they said the attack was brought on by stress, but his heart is all fine now.”

 

A heart attack, John had a heart attack. Daphne didn't appear to be listening to anything else after that, and everything that happened over the next twenty-four hours seemed to pass in a blur. But then that blur faded away and turned into determination. She spent the next weeks fussing over John Kennish. She made he ate correctly and didn’t skip any meals, even going as far as changing his diet and keeping an eye out for how much exercise the man had a day. Always ensuring he fit at least forty-five minutes a day, but never allowing him anything more than a full hour workout, less he overexerts himself.

 

She hardly slept; terrified that if she went to sleep no one would be able to help him. The thought of losing him while she was sound asleep frightened her more than anything.

 

But eventually, John got better. And even though Daphne still worried, and it wasn’t until John sat with her one evening assuring the young woman that he had no plan of going away any time soon, did she ease up on him. She spent years worrying. But she had no need.

 

John Kennish was a man of his word. And when he promised he was there to stay. He meant it.

 

* * *

 

 

Years later, both Bay and Daphne were happily married and with children of their own. The two of them lived together with their husbands and children. A surprise to many, considering how much time the two girls had spent together after their sixteenth birthday. But to them, living apart was not an option. Not after everything they had been through.

 

Besides, the house was big enough for all of them.

 

Daphne was the first to wake the morning of their birthday. After checking on her children and husband, she made her way to her sister’s bedroom. "Bay, Bay wake up." Daphne shoved the brunette's shoulder to wake her.

 

"No, I need my sleep." She begged. "Tyler is finally sleeping, I don't have any more energy left in me, I need my sleep." She almost cried, turning around and shoving her face into her pillow causing Daphne to smile at her and nod.

 

“Bay, no, we still need to get Travis from the airport,” she reminded, “you have to get up now.” she urged. But the brunette would not budge. "Alright then,” Daphne conceded, “I’ll just go downstairs and fix breakfast and hope the smell of coffee and bacon will lure your lazy butt out of bed.” And with that, she walked out of Bay’s bedroom, making sure to leave the door wide open before making her way into the kitchen.

 

Her own husband, Mingo -though he had long since stopped going as Mingo, preferring to go by his given name now- was already working on preparing the morning coffee. “Morning babe.” she greeted, and he turned to smile in her direction, placing a kiss to her temple.

 

“Good morning beautiful wife of mine.” he greeted back, signing quickly before pulling her in for another kiss. She saw him turn his sights towards the hall and her eyes followed, catching sight of her daughter and nephews making faces at them.

 

“Alex, Lily, what is little Ty doing up?” she asked.

 

“He woke up!” Five-year-old Lily pronounced excitedly, causing the toddler to start jumping on the sofa.

 

“Oh, Bay is going to love this.” she laughed, shaking her head and starting on breakfast. Once that was done, and just as she had predicted, Bay dragged her feet across the hall to sit on the table. And not a second after, she was attacked by their three children, her eldest daughter, Ashlyn, and her two sons, little Tyler and Jonah. And before she could feel jealous, her own children, Damien and Lily had wrapped their arms around her.

 

The rest of the morning went off without much incident. The two families making conversation over their meal before it was time for them to leave for the airport to pick up Travis, Bay’s husband, from the airport.

 

Later that evening, when both families were together, they prepared for the cookout dinner planned to celebrate the two women. It was during this dinner, that things started getting rocky.

 

Travis and Mingo were arguing up a storm over the fact that Ashlyn had been caught by her father with Damien. Accusations were being thrown left and right, and after one insinuation too much, Bay and Daphne intervened to break the two arguing men. The dinner ended up a disaster. Mingo was beyond insulted at Travis’ insinuation of not raising his son to be a respectful young man, but having no argument when his own son had gone and proved just how irresponsible he was by going and letting himself get caught by the father of his girlfriend. The fact that the two could practically be considered cousins was doing nothing to help his defensive argument.

 

So she let Bay deal with the wounded feelings of the two grown men, Daphne went to check up on her honorary niece. The redhead knocked softly on the girl’s bedroom door and then spent the better part of the hour holding the dark-haired child in her arms as she cried.

"I just don't understand aunt D,” the young girl signed. “Damien and I aren’t even related, and dad has always told me what a great guy Damien was.” she sighed, her arms dropping. “I just thought he would be happy for me.”

 

"You're his little girl, Ash” Daphne tried to sooth the girl. “You’re his only little girl,” she added with a smile, “he just doesn't want to lose you.” When she saw the girl wasn’t going to object to hearing more of her opinions, she continued. "One of these days, you'll have children of your own and understand why fathers react how they do." She assured.

 

"Was Grandpa Kennish this angry when mom and dad got engaged?" she asked looking up at her.

 

Daphne let out a loud laugh. “Believe it or not, he was actually happy for them,” she told the young girl. “Oh, but you should have seen him when he found out why your uncle Mingo and I had to get married." She laughed. “Your mom and I were scared she would kill him before he even got the chance to ask me to marry him!” she laughed. “But that’s the way fathers are, you know. Father's will go through anything to make sure their daughters are always that. Their daughters.” she said. “So it won’t matter now if you think it’s all going wrong. You will always be your daddy’s little girl. Because nothing is stronger than the love a father has for his daughter."

 

~FIN~


End file.
